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Section 3 Mineral Resources

Vocabulary:

gemstone - a mineral that has a brilliant or glassy luster and is hard and colorful.
ore - a rock with an economically useful mineral or metal in it.
smelting - separating the other elements, in the ore, and the useful metal or mineral.
alloy - is a solid mixture made of two or more metals.

Outline:

The Uses of Minerals

• Gemstones
  • Many uses
    • decoration
    • jewelry
    • mechanical parts
    • grinding
    • polishing
  • Examples
    • sapphires and rubies
• Metals
  • able to be
    • stretch into wires
    • flattened into sheets
    • hammered and molded without breaking
  • Examples
    • iron
    • aluminum
    • copper
    • silver
    • gold

*Other Useful Minerals

• Uses
  • foods
  • medicines
  • fertilizers
  • Building materials
• Examples
  • talc
  • quartz

Ores
Prospecting

• a prospector is a person who prospects

Mining

• three types of mining
  • strip mining
  • open pit mining
  • shaft mining

Smelting